On-Line Press Kit
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We are living in very uncertain times. Peace is constantly under threat and there is an urgent need to create the causes for harmony throughout the world.
However, world peace cannot be imposed, enforced, or legislated. The cause of peace is the attitude of loving-kindness. Peace can only come about as it is generated in the mind and heart of each person.
All of the world's major religions and humanitarian traditions teach the ethical values of loving-kindness and compassion. With such an attitude peace exists internally and then manifests externally.
Only when these universal values are embraced and take root in the minds and hearts of more and more people, will world peace become attainable.
"Loving-kindness is the cause, peace is the result, internally and externally - peace for the individual, the family, the community, and for the whole world. This is the way to bring peace and happiness, not only in the present world, but in the future as well. Throughout the entire universe, peace comes from the good heart, from loving-kindness."
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Spiritual Director, Maitreya Project
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Maitreya Project’s purpose is to bring as much benefit to as many as possible, for as long as possible — spiritually, in education and healthcare, and economically through the creation of employment opportunities and the development of the community’s infrastructure.
As the focus of its activities, Maitreya Project is building a magnificent 500ft / 152m bronze statue of Maitreya Buddha at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, in northern India. It will provide the world with a much-needed and enduring 21st century monument to the attitude of loving-kindness. The name Maitreya comes from the Sanskrit word ‘maitri’ meaning ‘love’.
The Project will benefit the people of India through its economic impact and social programmes, which includes healthcare and education of international standard.
The statue has been designed to last for at least 1,000 years - a unique and demanding requirement for modern architects and engineers - to enable the Project's spiritual and social work to thrive for at least a millennium.
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The Maitreya Buddha statue and its throne-building - which is a remarkable 17-storey, modern structure - will contain temples, prayer and meditation rooms, exhibition halls and auditoriums.
The Project's other public buildings will include a museum, library, audio-visual theatre, guest and hospitality facilities, and Project services. All will be set in beautifully landscaped parks with meditation pavilions, fountains, pools and a playground designed especially for the enjoyment of children and their families.
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For thousands of years the world's enduring monuments have provided us with powerful symbols, reminders of the values different cultures have treasured most.
According to Buddhist tradition, sacred objects - for example, religious statues and paintings - provide a uniquely powerful means by which we can bring to mind the positive attitudes that are essential to the development of world peace and spiritual fulfillment.
The buildings and grounds of the Maitreya Project will contain a remarkable collection of sacred art and religious objects. There will be paintings, statues, relief carvings, mosaics, and other traditional forms of Buddhist art. The very finest artists and artisans from each field are being commissioned to produce the artworks, which will inspire and enrich the experience of everyone who visits.
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By providing employment and new business opportunities and acting as a focus for new investment in the infrastructure of the region, the Project will act as a significant catalyst to rejuvenate the entire region both economically and socially.
Maitreya Project is working with national, state and local governments in India to ensure the Project's activities and region's development are complementary.
The Project has appointed an exceptional team comprising world-class engineers, architects, project managers, and many other professionals from India and around the world.
A sustainable society must protect and enhance the environment while meeting social needs and promoting economic success. The Project is being designed and built to the highest of international standards of best practice and aspires to become a model of socially responsible and sustainable development. The process of assessing environmental, economic and social impacts will be ongoing - throughout planning, construction and during operation.
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India's government has designated tourism a key to regional development. Maitreya Project will enhance and further define northern India as a primary pilgrimage and cultural site for visitors from all over the world.
Maitreya Project will be located in northern India along the pilgrimage route of many historical Buddhist sites. By improving the area's infrastructure and building public facilities with inspiring architecture and art, the Project will help to develop and sustain the area as a tourist and pilgrimage destination for people from all over the world.
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‘Universal Education’ is a philosophy inspired by the founder of Maitreya Project, the late Tibetan Buddhist master, Lama Thubten Yeshe, and his disciple, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Spiritual Director of Maitreya Project.
It seeks to help people live happy and fulfilling lives by cultivating a ‘good heart’, a sense of universal responsibility and wisdom.
The Maitreya Universal Education Project intends to provide free education from kindergarten to university level for children regardless of religion, caste, sex or economic status.
The Maitreya Universal Education Project is already active in Bodhgaya, India. In 2004 there are 450 students attending classes from kindergarten to Class 12.
Most of the students come from very poor Hindu and Muslim families living in the villages around Bodhgaya. Because of prevailing social and economic conditions they suffer many hardships.
In this difficult environment the Maitreya Project School is more than just a place where children attend classes. To meet the broader needs of the children, the school offers:
- free education, including uniforms, books and other materials.
- a free daily meal service, regular health checks and medical treatment for needy cases.
- free residential care for children who could not otherwise attend school.
- an educational programme designed to bring peace and happiness into the lives of the children and their families.
- Universal Education integrates a modern, scientific approach with ethical values and a sense of responsibility toward society and the environment.
- The establishment of small outreach schools and community projects in the outlying villages will be an important part of the education programme.
- It is planned that educational provision will be extended to other places in northern India, such as at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
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The Maitreya Project healthcare programmes will be of international standard, and form a part of the Maitreya Project's charitable and service activities.
It will offer Western as well as traditional Indian Ayurvedic and Tibetan medical treatments.
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A rare and precious collection of sacred Buddhist relics will be permanently displayed in the Maitreya statue's Heart Shrine.
The relics are mainly the beautiful crystalline, pearl-like deposits collected from the cremation ashes of spiritual masters.
The spiritual masters include the historical Buddha and his well-known disciples Ananda, Sariputra, and Maudgalyayana as well as many other masters from Indian, Chinese and Tibetan traditions.
It is explained in Buddhist texts that viewing holy objects such as these relics inspires us to develop our own hearts and minds, giving us the courage to act with loving-kindness so that we can bring peace into the world.
Until the Maitreya statue is completed, the relics will tour the globe so that as many people as possible can benefit from seeing them.
Linking a 2,000-year-old Art Tradition with the Most Up-to-Date Technologies
Dorset, UK artists Denise Griffin and Peter Griffin have created the original, life-size sculpture under the guidance of Buddhist masters from the Himalayas.
Traditional Buddhist art combined with the very latest techniques from CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and manufacture) and other cutting-edge technologies are being utilised to build the 500ft / 152m statue.
Scaling-up the original life-size sculpture to the full 500ft / 152m has required advances in state-of-the-art 3D software, robot arms, laser scanners, digital video technology and computer controlled manufacturing techniques.
Peter and Denise Griffin are working closely with industry specialists to develop methods to retain the subtlety, beauty and exact proportions of the original art in the finished statue.
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Building the Maitreya statue will also require further development of the very latest skills in architectural, engineering, construction and maintenance technologies.
The structure must withstand high winds, extreme temperature changes, seasonal rains, possible earthquakes and floods, air pollution and other as yet unknown environmental challenges for the next 1,000 years.
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Maitreya Project was conceived by the late Lama Thubten Yeshe, a well-known Tibetan teacher who devoted his life to making Buddhism available to people worldwide. His main disciple, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who is the spiritual director of Maitreya Project, has carried forward his vision.
The Project is funded solely by donation.
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